The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for deboning poultry pieces and more particularly to a unique apparatus for removing the meat from an elongated bone of a poultry thigh piece, leg and the like.
Various methods and machines have been used to separate an eviscerated poultry carcass into its various component pieces or parts for subsequent processing, packaging and sale. The cut-up operations typically involve removal of the meat components from the carcass. Cut-up and deboning operations have been and continue to be performed by hand. The eviscerated carcasses may be mounted on shackles along a processing line. The component parts are removed by manual cutting. The parts may be subsequently processed to remove the meat from the bones.
As the demand for poultry parts and deboned meat parts has increased, various machines have been developed for the automatic cut up and deboning of poultry carcasses. Examples of automatic cut-up machines may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,624 entitled POULTRY CUT-UP MACHINE and issued on Apr. 12, 1977 to Eugene Martin et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,421 entitled POULTRY LEG/BACK PROCESSOR and issued on May 31, 1983 to Eugene G. Martin. The machine of U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,421 automatically separates the poultry leg sections from the back of the carcass. Removal of the meat from the leg sections, if desired, is accomplished by subsequent deboning operations.
A machine which has been developed for deboning poultry legs, thighs and the like may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,463 entitled SINGLE STATION ANATOMICAL SECTION DE-BONING MACHINE and issued on May 4, 1982 to Eugene G. Martin. The machine of this patent includes a gripper blade assembly which engages and retains an end of the bone. A head deboning assembly includes a set of blades through which the bone is pulled by the gripper blade assembly. The deboning assembly in effect pulls the bone out of the meat portion or peels the meat back along the longitudinal axis of the elongated bone.
Another approach to deboning poultry parts may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,112 entitled AUTOMATIC POULTRY DEBONING APPARATUS and issued on Sept. 6, 1983 to Geno N. Gasbarro. This patent discloses an apparatus which uses an array of high pressure fluid streams to separate the meat from the bone portion of a poultry leg and thigh. The fluid streams are disposed along the path of travel of a conveyor. The streams impinge upon the leg or thigh portion to remove the meat.
Prior approaches have not been readily adaptable to different types of poultry such as chicken or turkeys. Also, the prior machines have been relatively complex and/or have not achieved the desired maximum removal of the meat from the bones. The water jet approaches also present problems with excessive water absorption by the meat which can make the meat components unacceptable.